In the Miami Marlins spring-training camp, Mobile native and former South Alabama baseball star Juan Pierre is preparing for this 14th big league season. He hopes it won't be his last.

"I would like to play as long as I still enjoy the game," Pierre told the website Yardbarker.com. "Last year, I signed a minor-league deal (before making the Philadelphia Phillies roster). So, it wasn't like it was guaranteed. I had to make the team.

"I'm not high on people's list. I don't think I'm in a position to say, 'Oh yeah, I'll play three or four more years.' I'm not in that position. I have to go one year at a time."

That's why he was getting ready for this season even before he signed a one-year, $1.6 million deal with the Miami. The 35-year-old knows his future in the majors depends on his legs.

With 591 stolen bases, Pierre has more steals than any player in the game today and more than all but 18 in baseball history. So he spends a lot of time in the offseason running - not for long distance but for the distance between the bases, so he can maintain that burst of speed over 90 feet that has been so vital to his longevity.

Another former South Alabama standout, designated hitter/first baseman Adam Lind is trying to show the Toronto Blue Jays that not only has he recovered the hitting prowess that he was missing last season, but that he shouldn't be pulled from the lineup against left-handed pitchers.

"We're looking at it. We've got other guys, right-handed bats, could fill that role if we're stronger that way. It's something we're focusing on. We want to get a good look this spring. We have to give him an opportunity to get his timing down. Everybody's working on their timing right now. Then we'll see how his swings look."

''I love what I do,'' Peavy said. ''I'm blessed to be able to do what I do. We walk by guys in the clubhouse. Somebody asks you how you're doing or what's going on, and so many guys will say, 'I'm living the dream.'

''It's just a phrase, but, honestly, look at the life I've been able to live. It's been such a blessed life. It's a life that you dream of as a little boy. I understand now, in looking back, how difficult it is for that dream to become a reality for a little boy.''

Teammate Adam Dunn said Peavy wasn't just some rah-rah guy. He was genuine.

''I've known Jake since 1999, and he's always been the same way,'' Dunn said. ''How you can tell immediately is when he has nothing in it. The day after a start, he's sitting there in the dugout, first inning, yelling, 'Let's get some runs. Let's get going.' ... He's like this every day.''

Peavy said being a teammate was part of being on a team, as much a requirement of his two-year $29 million contract as pitching every fifth day.

"I want these guys to say: 'You know what? Peavy cared. He cared about me off the field. He cared about me on the field. He did everything he could to make sure I did things right, and he pushed me to be the best I could be,'" he said.

Another former St. Paul's star, Kyle McPherson, made his spring debut on Monday, pitching two scoreless innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Minnesota Twins. During his prep career, as well as at Faulkner State and the University of Mobile, McPherson was as much a position player as a pitcher.

In an interview with KDKA in Pittsburgh, McPherson said he doesn't feel like a pitching Neanderthal anymore, having learned on his way to the big leagues that there's more to pitching than rearing back and trying to fog it past the batter.

McPherson also was the target of a spoof by the Pirates website RumBunter, which announced he'd been signed to join another Pittsburgh pro athlete, the Steelers' Troy Polamalu, as a spokesman for Head and Shoulders shampoo.

Former Faith Academy standout Josh Donaldson was a star catcher at Auburn. He played the position in the minor leagues and even in the big leagues. But last year, his play down the stretch at third base helped lift the Oakland Athletics into the American League playoffs.

"This is still a new position to him. It's not natural to him,'' Gallego said. "So he's out here working on his footwork, on his positioning and on seeing the ball off the bat. The good thing is he has great athletic ability, and he doesn't take shortcuts. He's out here working hard to get better. Nobody works harder.''

Donaldson wants to make sure he's not a defensive liability.

"When a pitcher makes a pitch, I want to be able to make a play,'' Donaldson said. "I had a little experience in the Dominican playing at third, but I'd always been a catcher. So from Day 1 here this spring, I'm back working and trying to learn the position.''

After leading the Mobile BayBears to the past two Southern League championships as the team's manager, former Satsuma High School and South Alabama standout Turner Ward returned to the big leagues as the Arizona Diamondbacks assistant hitting coach this season.

"Turner is going to work with base running, and he's going to help with the outfielders, because we don't have an outfield coach," Baylor said. "He's also going to help me with some of the guys. We have so many guys who love to hit. (Martin) Prado is a workaholic. (Willie) Bloomquist, too. It helps free up time for me to be with guys. Everybody needs attention.

"He's another set of eyes that will help me identify a problem before it even starts. He was with (Paul) Goldschmidt for a long time in the minor leagues, as well as Adam Eaton. Guys like that. He'll help us identify some things early."

Eaton is trying to earn an everyday spot as the Diamondbacks' center fielder. He started last season with the BayBears after spending half of the 2011 season in Mobile. MLB.com included Eaton in its video rundown of the top prospects for the 2013 season: